Chapter Text
"So, how far are we from our destination currently?" Maki perked up while staring out into the vast expanse of the mountainside from her window. "Hope we reach there quickly so that we can avoid the fall of snow."
"Umm?" Kaito mumbled unfurling and turning over the map he was holding 180 degrees to hold it correctly in his hand. "We just crossed over this iron bridge, sooo we should be reaching our hill top resort in or around 2 hours." he stated placing the map back into his lap and went back to checking his phone.
"2 hours!?" groaned Kaede throwing her head back against the passenger seat and suppressing a whine. "I can't afford to wait any longer to reach it!"
"Have some patience sweetheart." Shuichi reassured by placing his off hand on her thigh as a comforting gesture. "When we shall reach our destination, you can fully unwind to your heart's content."
"Aww thank you so much for your reassuring words Shuichi." she lit up instantly and placed both her hands on his own and squeezed lightly.
"God you two are such hopeless romantics." Maki chuckled against the back of her palm with her head resting against the window. And then her gaze fell to Kaito who was snoring lightly laying back against his seat. "And then there are some others who are less than eager." she sighed.
"Hey wake up!" Kaede shouted leering over her seat and pointing a fist at Kaito. "You aren't allowed to doze off before we reach our destination!"
"Hmm....hwwaaa...whaaa...?" he groggily mumbled as he rubbed his eyes opened. "Ar ve zere yet?"
"Bro, how much did you sleep last night?" asked Shuichi looking him over through the rear view mirror. "You look like you haven't slept for even a second before stepping into this car."
"Sleep....? That's....for the weak." he replied slowly regaining his awakened state.
"He was on the roof of our apartment stargazing all night." stated Maki. After a bit, she started rubbing her gloved hands together to stave off some of the cold air seeping through the slight crack of opening in the window.
"Should I fully close the window Maki?" inquired Shuichi upon sensing her shivering. "You seem to be feeling the chill passing through the slight opening."
"Y-yes." came her stuttered reply.
Using his off hand to steer the vehicle, Shuichi pressed the switch to raise the window to shut it close completely then went back to steering the vehicle using both of his hands.
"Damn when did it get so cold?" Kaito spoke holding himself in a tight embrace. "Hey partner, why don't you turn on the heating in here?"
"Got it." he called out and activated the car's internal heating by pressing a few buttons and providing the others with that much needed warmth.
"Ahh." sighed Kaede as she regained her much needed body heat. "How cold did it start to get as we ascended this mountain? I am freezing my buns off in here."
"The temperature gauge is telling us that the temperature outside is -25 degrees celsius or -12 fahrenheit." answered Shuichi as he swiped the screen of the central console. "Well, I guess it makes sense that the temperature would drop suddenly as we ascended farther and farther up the mountain."
"Look outside!" Kaito exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the outside scenery of Maki's window. "It's snowing!!"
"Huh?" she hummed and turned her head to see for herself and when her gaze fell upon the windward of the hill, she sharply inhaled and brought a gloved hand to her mouth.
The scenery outside was beyond divine. Little round puffs of white snow were falling all around their car blanketing it in a thin blanket of an icy plate. The long pine trees branching their avenue had also been covered from head to toe by the snowfall.
"My full attention shall be on the road now." called out Shuichi as he shifted to a more serious posture and turned on the antifreeze windshield spray to prevent the windshield from getting covered by the ice.
"It's so pretty." Kaede whispered in awe as she took in her surroundings. The snow peaked mountains all encompassing their horizon, the expansive avenue that they were currently driving on. But the most important aspect of this beauty was the simple fact that she was sharing this feeling with her best friends and her boyfriend.
She blew a warm breath on the surface of the window and due to the difference in temperature, it instantly fogged up and left behind an imprint upon the screen. She brought up her finger and skillfully drew a heart with the left half of it encircling the letters S.S. and right half the letters K.A. and in the middle of the letters, there existed a smaller heart with the initials K.S. linking their names together. To finish off her love illustration, she drew a small magnifying glass beneath Shuichi's name and a tiny quaver musical note besides hers.
After admiring her work for a few moments, she took out her phone and quickly snapped a picture of it to immortalize it as a keepsake.
"Hey Makiroll." Kaito mumbled shifting a little closer to his girlfriend. "Are you okay? You are shaking a whole lot."
"I-I'm fine Kaito." she shivered as she give him her reply. She also refused to show him her current expression lest he figure it out himself.
"Yeah that's a lie, I know my girlfriend more than I know myself." he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her and snuggled her closer to him. His warmth immediately started seeping into her body causing her to relax immensely. She shuffled around a bit to fit more comfortably into his gentle and reassuring embrace and as a show of her own affection, she reached an arm around him to pull him closer to her body.
She felt him press a kiss upon her crest and her face instantly lit up in a faint blush and a deep smile.
Sometime later, Shuichi spoke up to get the attention of the others as he slowed down considerably.
"Guys I think that is our destination right over there." he pointed to a luxurious looking resort built into the side of the mountain. It's exterior was supported by several thick and sturdy beams jutted into the cliffside and the view from it's balcony was able to oversee the entire valley of the mountain range.
"Wait that's where we'll be staying!?" Kaede exclaimed absolutely speechless. "B-but that's way too elite!"
"That's one way to describe it." Kaito blinked as he kept gawking at the architectural marvel. "Seriously where did you learn about this place from partner?"
"I mean growing up in Hokkaido has it's advantages." he winked as he pulled into the parking lot of the resort. "Also, getting a lodging here was pretty easy as soon as I mentioned that all four of us are Hope's Peak graduates."
"Really, that's hilarious." giggled Maki.
"Yeah, the receptionist that I was talking to over the phone was like, 'Name your price monsieur' and I had to try so hard to contain my laughter right over the phone when she addressed me like that." Shuichi chuckled as he recalled the story. "It will most likely be seen as a publicity and advertising move from their side as they can now claim that they hosted the stay of four of the bearers of hope of this generation.
"I am still having a hard time believing that this is real." Kaede mumbled to herself blinking rapidly. "I still think that I am dreaming right now."
"You are in a simulation Kaede. It is finally time for you to wake up." Kaito muttered making faux ghost noises trying to scare her, key word, trying.
"Yeah, no thanks." she scoffed signaling offhandedly with a flick of her wrist.
As Shuichi found a nice spot for them to park their car in, he turned off the engine and disengaged the lock on all the doors and unbuckled his seatbelt.
"And that marks the end of our journey guys."
Kaito and Shuichi exited first and went around the car to help their girlfriends exit. They reached inside the car and grasped their girlfriends' arms gently and helped them in exiting. Soon enough all four friends were standing back on their feet feeling slightly exhausted from the long car ride.
Shuichi soon tossed the car keys over to Kaito and gestured to the trunk of the car, the intention clear. Carry out their bags.
Groaning, the astronaut unlocked the trunk and one by one unloaded all four of their suitcases, one belonging to each of them. Who even color codes their travel cases? he thought as he noticed that they consisted of one blue, pink, red and purple suitcase matching each of their color palate.
Shuichi showed some mercy as he approached Kaito and decided to help him carry half their luggage as he extended the arm handle of his and Kaede's case and started rolling it along it's wheels. Following him, Kaito did the same and rolled his and Maki's case right in step with him. The girls not straying far from them as they followed behind them closely.
Reaching the reception desk took no longer than 2 minutes and the lady sitting on the other greeted all four of them politely with a deep bow. After standing upright, she asked for their reservation and Shuichi pulled out his phone to verify their reservation. The reception put on a wide smile as she acknowledged just who these new guests were and instantly started typing something on her computer checking off a few things quickly. And as soo as she was done, she handed over the keys to their rooms to Shuichi. She then called over a bellboy who helped carry their luggage the rest of the way.
When they approached their rooms labelled 11 and 037 the bellboy gently unloaded their belongings and promptly left.
"Oh our rooms are across the hallway from each other." perked up Kaede as she looked over at the plates on both their guest rooms. "But why do these numbers sort of remind me of something?"
"Yeah, like isn't it strange that 37 has a 0 before it but not in front of 11?" Kaito scratched his goatee and spoke. "The heck is up with that?"
"We can think about that later as we first need to take a much needed rest don't we?" Shuichi put forth as he turned the lock of room 11 using his key and then tossed the key to the other room to Kaito.
"I totally agree with you there." yawned Maki.
"See you guys tomorrow." waved Kaede as she entered her and Shuichi's shared room and closed the door behind her.